Rotary steam-engine



No. 6l2,032. Patented Oct. ll, I893. 0. E. GRAHAM.

ROTARY STEAM ENGINE. v (Applicnionfiled July 30, 1897.) (.No Model.)

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N0. 6|2,032. I Patented Oct. ,1898.

I 0. E. GRAHAM.

ROTARY ENGINE.

(Application filed July 30, 1697.) 7 (No Model.) 3 Sheets-$heet 2 M y firm Wibnaoow' 0 4 No. 612,032. Pafented Oct. n, I898.

9. E. GRAHAM. ROTABY STEAM ENGINE.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ORVEY E. GRAHAM, OF \VRAY, COLORADO.

ROTARY STEAM-ENGINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 612,032, dated October 1 1, 1898.

- Application filed July 30, 1897. Serial No. 646,538. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ORVEY E. GRAHAM, of

WVray, in the county of Yuma and State of Colorado, have invented certain new and use- "ful Improvements in Rotary Steam-Engines;

commonly known as rotary engines; and.

it consists in the novel combination and arrangement of simple parts that will be hereinafter fully described.

The primary object of the invention is to provide an engine of the character above mentioned in which the steam will be economically used and which will be especially simple in construction, durable, and efficient in operation.

A further object of the invention is to provide an engine which shall embody a compact construction and in which there shall be no lost motion or lost steam.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent in the course of the following description, and the points of novelty will be particularly pointed out in the claims.

I am enabled to accomplish the objects of my invention by the simple means illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 represents a perspective view of my improved engine. tion of the same, the cam-wheel being removed from the shaft to more clearly illustrate the mechanism. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal central section of the engine, showing the back pressure and the mechanism for operating the same. Fig. 1 is a central vertical section of the engine. Fig. 5 is a perspective View of the piston removed from the cylinder.

Fig. 6 is a sectional view of the upper portion of the cylinder, showing the inlet-ports. Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the back-pressure gates and the mechanism for operating the same removed from the engine. Fig. 8 is a vertical section of the wheel upon which the piston is mounted, showing the arrangement of the inlet and outlet ports.

Fig. 2 is a side eleva- Referring to the drawings, the numeral 1 indicates a suitable base, upon which is the rigidly-secured cylinder 2,'formed in the present instance in two sections 3 and 4, each section being provided with flanges or plates 5, perforated for the reception of bolts, by which means said sections are firmly secured together. The said flanges are cut away on one side of the cylinder to form stuffing-boxes 6, which are suitably packed and adapted to receive the ends of'two laterally-extending arms '7, provided on their outer ends with back-pressure gates 8, adapted to work in suitable recesses 9, formed in the upper and under sides of the plates or flanges 5. The said pressure-gates are adapted to be operated by mechanism which will presently be described to close the steamspace in the cylinder to cause the steam to expand against the piston to rotate the shaft. As shown more clearly in Fig. 3 of the drawings, the steam-space in the cylinder is formed circular in cross-section.

The numeral 10 indicates a Wheel keyed upon the main shaft 11, which in the pres ent instance is provided with a bracket 12, in which is firmly secured the piston 13, formed with two annular flanges 14: thereon, between which is located the usual packingring 15, and it will be observed that the piston is formed'to fit the circular steam-space in the cylinder snugly. The wheel 10 is provided with seven annular flanges, forming six annular grooves, as shown in Figs. 3 and 8. The center one of these flanges 18 is broader .and higher than the other flanges and is adapted to extend into and revolve in the annular opening 19 in the inner periphery of the cylinder 2. The outergrooves on the wheel 10 and the grooves adjacent to the flange 18 are adapted to receive packingrings 15. The grooves 17 between the packing-rings on either side of the flange 18 are open, and the floors thereof have the recesses 20, which communicate with the transverse recesses 21, communicating with the recesses 22, opening into the steam-space of the cylinder, for the purpose of admitting steam thereto and exhausting steam therefrom, as shown in Fig. 8. The recesses 20, 21, and 22 are on opposite sides of the piston and extend from near the brackets 12 to ninety degrees from the center of the piston 13. \Vhen the wheel 10 is in position in the cylinder, the grooves 17 will register with the ports 23.

Steam will be admitted to the cylinder through one set of the recesses 20, 21, and 22 and exhausted through the other set of recesses 20, 21, and 22 on the opposite side of the piston. The throttle-valve controlling the admission of steam to the cylinder is so arranged that steam can be admitted through either of the ports to the recesses 20 on either side of the wheel and on either side of the piston to reverse the engine.

Reverting to the description of the backpressure gates and the mechanism for operating the same, the numeral 24: indicates two parallel bars which have their ends secured to the flanges 5, and said bars are provided on their inner sides with tongues 25, which form guideways or tracks for the sliding blocks 26, grooved on their upper and under sides for the reception of said tongues. Said blocks are provided with short laterally-extending arms 27,in which are secured the ends of the bars 7, said bars being secured to the space by washers and nuts on either side of said arms. Connected with the sliding blocks 26 are similar blocks 26, grooved and adapted to slide between the parallel bars 23 in a manner similar to the blocks 26, and all of said blocks are provided on their outer side with antifriction-rollers 28, adapted to rest on either side of a cam 29, formed on the inner face of a wheel 30, adapted to be rigidly secured to the shaft in close proximity to the cylinder, and it will be apparent that when the shaft is revolved the cam will cause the blocks to slide between the parallel bars and actuate the back-pressure gates to open or close the steam-space in front of the piston to permit the same to pass during the revolution of the said piston.

Having described the mechanism constituting my improved engine, I will now proceed to describe its operation. Steam is admitted through one of the ports 23, entering the groove 17 and passing around the wheel until the recess 20 is reached, when it will pass through said recess and through the transverse recess 21, through the flange 18 to the steam-space in the cylinder on one side or the other of the piston, causing the wheel upon which the piston is mounted to rotate, and after the steam has operated upon the piston the required length of time the cam-Wheel 30, which is so formed as to open and close a back-pressure gate while passing one hundred and forty degrees of its revolution, will cause the one of the back-pressure gates that has just been passed by the piston to close the steam-space of the cylinder. By reason of the position of the recesses 22 in the flange 18 and the form of the cam 29 the piston must travel twenty degrees farther after the backpressure gate has closed before the recess 22 passes the gate and transfers the back pressure to it. As the recess 22 behind the piston passes one back-pressure gate the recess 22 ahead of the piston begins to pass the other gate and exhausts the entrapped steam that has just acted upon the piston. By the position of the recesses 22 and the form of the cam 29 it will be seen that the recess 22 ahead of the piston exhausts the entrapped steam while the piston passes over twenty degrees of its revolution before the cam begins to open the back-pressure gate, thus relieving the gate of its pressure before moving it. By this arrangement it will be seen that the steam acts directly upon the piston during its entire revolution and that the pressure on the back-pressure gates is removed before the gates are acted on by the camwheel.

By reason of the manner in which the backpressure gates are secured to the sliding blocks it will be seen that they can be adjusted and the blocks carrying the antifriction-rollers can also be adjusted to embrace the cam more closely to compensate for Wear.

It is obvious from the foregoing description that the engine herein described is especially simple in construction and that the objects of the invention are effectually accomplished; and I do not desire to be understood as limitin g myself to the precise construction shown in the drawings. Many modifications involving mechanical skill will suggest themselves and be made without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a rotary steam-engine, the combination with the main shaft, of a wheel keyed thereto and provided with annular flanges and grooves on the periphery thereof, a cylinder provided with an annular slot in its inner periphery and flanges on the sides of said slot having steamports opening therethrough, a piston on said wheel and extending into the steam-space of the cylinder, recesses in the periphery of the wheel between the flanges thereon, adapted to come under one or the other of the inlet or exhaust ports, when the wheel is revolved, ports in the central flange on said wheel communicating with the recesses or ports between the said flanges, whereby steam is admitted to the steam-space in the cylinder and exhausted therefrom after it has acted upon the piston, back-pressure gates in the steam-space, and means for actuating said space at proper intervals, substantially as and for the purpose set forth,

2. In a rotary steam-engine, the combination with the main shaft, of a wheel keyed thereon and provided with annular grooves and flanges on its periphery, a bracket 011 said wheel, a cylinder provided with an annular slot in the inner periphery thereof and formed with flanges on either side of said slot, said flanges having steam inlet and exhaust ports therethrough, a piston mounted upon the bracket on said wheel and resting in the steam-space in the cylinder, inlet and exhaust ports between the flanges at the sides of the Wheel, and ports opening into recessesin the central flange, whereby it is admitted to the steam-space in the cylinder, suitable stuffingboxes adjacent to the cylinder, arms passing through said stufling-boxes and provided at their ends'with back-pressure gates, operative connections between'a cam-wheel on the main shaft and the pressure-gates, whereby the same are reciprocated to create a back pressure upon the piston and to withdraw said gates to permit the piston to pass, substantially as and for the purpose setforth.

3. The combination with the cylinder, of two parallel bars secured thereto and provided on their inner sides withtongues or guideways, of two pairs of blocks, each pair joined, adjustably provided with grooves adapted to be entered by said tongues, rods adjustably secured to two of said blocks and provided at their ends with backpressure gates adapted to enter and be withdrawn from the steam-space, of the cylinder for the purpose described, antifriction-rollers secured to the inner faces of said blocks, a cam-wheel keyed to the shaft, the cam thereon adapted to rest between the rollers, whereby the pressure-gates are operated when the shaft is rotated, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ORVEY E. GRAHAM.

Witnesses:

E. J BALEs, HOWARD KLUGH. 

